Blasting mat



y 1949. J. s. MAZZELLA I 2,474,905

BLASTING MAT Filed July 2, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'rmyz'oz, J 1.5 M92251. 1.3;,

Patented July 5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to blasting mats, and aims to provide a novel, practical and useful sturdy mat suitable for use in blasting work, which is at the same time capable of withstanding repeated use.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a blasting mat out of a single length of wire rope or cable, which is threaded into a pattern to form a strong, durable and tough mat.

The above broad as well as additional and more specific objects will become apparent in the following description, wherein characters of reference refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that the drawings are intended solely for the purpose of illustration, and that it is neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to the exact details of construction shown except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referrin briefly to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of an unfinished blasting mat made in accordance with the principles of this invention and at the same time illustrating the manner of threading or weaving the wire rope to form the mat.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the actual finished mat.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in diagrammatic form, illustrating two ways in which the warps of the mat may be laid down.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view in general similar to the left-hand portion of Fig. 4, but taken after the warps have been completely laid down and the first pair of woofs have been inserted.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the first two pairs of woofs laid down and the manner of using the slat or board to force the third pair of woofs into position; the slat is thus used, however, in forcing every pair except possibly the last pair, of woofs into position.

Fig. '7 is a view similar to Fig. 4, taken, however, through the finished mat.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary enlargement of Fig. 3.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 99 of Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral I0 indicates a finished blasting mat embodying this invention, which is substantially rectangular in outline. The mat is formed of a single length of wire rope or cable, and although this wire rope or cable is shown at l I as a solid wire, in practice stranded wire is generally used.

A pair of slats or boards I3 and I4 are utilized, and they are laid on the floor or on supports, not

2 shown, to elevate them somewhat above the fioor, and they may be releasably held in spaced parallel relationship by means of pegs I9 secured to or nailed to the floor. The wire I I may'be loopedabout the boards I3 and I4 to form the warps I2 in the manner shown in the upper portion of Fig. 3, that is, by alternately passing the rope over both boards and under both boards, or it may be looped about the boards in the figure 8 fashion shown in the lowerportion of Fig. 3 to form warps 20. The spacing of the boards I3 and I4 determines the length of the mat.

The woofs H, which are formed of the same length of rope I I after completion of the warps I2, are formed as follows. The two end warps are shown at I2a and I2b in Fig. 2. The continuing length of wire which is on hand from each of these end warp threads is used to form the woofs Fla and ill) at the bottom, Fig. 2, by threading the two rope ends through the warps in mutually opposite directions, as shown by the arrows, Fig. 2. After passing the rope ends all the way through, they are turned back to form bights I81: and lb and they are again passed through in the opposite directions indicated by the arrows to form the next pair of woofs I10 and I'ld. This is repeated for successive pairs of woofs I! throughout the width of the mat, with the free ends of the rope emergin at opposite ends of the mat at We and Hi. The free ends are secured by couplings or other suitable means, 2|, to end bights I8, as shown in Figs. 2 and 9.

To facilitate the weaving of the woofs, the method illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 is carried out, owing to the relative heaviness of the wire rope used. The first two woofs Fla and I'll) may be threaded through the warps while the board I3 is in position against the bights I6, as shown in Fig. 5. Then that board I3 is pulled out and reinserted on the right-hand side of the woofs Ila and I'll), as shown in broken lines, and then by pushing the board I3 to the left it will raise the woofs Fla and Nb against the bights It; however, a second board I3 could be used for insertion into the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 5 before the first board I3 shown in full lines is removed.

After the first two woofs Fla and I'll) have thus been positioned against the bights I6, the board I3 is removed and reinserted after crossing the upper and lower warps I2 to form a closed loop 22 about the said end woof. This step is not illustrated, but in Fig. 6 the same step is illustrated in the case of the third pair of woofs I I after the second successive loop 23 has been formed to enclose the second pair of woofs 11c and H11. Continuing after the forcing of the said third pair of woofs I'I into position by the board I3 and thus forming the second loop 23, the board I3 is again removed, the warps l2 are again crossed in the same manner, and from there the procedure is continued throughout the width of the mat as the woofs are woven through the warps. A completed fragment of. the mat, in cross-section, isYsii'own'simFig.

It is to be noted that the woofs IT are grouped in pairs, of which the pairs I'Ia, Nb and He, I'Id. are examples. The two threads of each such pair pass alternately over and under successive warps views ofthe drawings, particularljfiFig 2;it -is'tof: 25 Number I claim:

The method of weaving a mat out of a unitary length of rope consisting in forming the warps out of the intermediate portion thereof in substantially parallel rows thereby having said warps joined by bights at their ends and having end lengths of the rope left over, in forming woofs out of said end lengths by passing said end lengths beginning at one end of thematalternately over and under said warps in mutuallylopposite directions and upon the completion of one of said woofs doubling back said end lengths and passing the same alternately under and over said warps in thef'opposite directions and then doubling back said.end lengths again and proceeding in the same manner to weave said woofs through the entirelength of i the mat.

JOSEPH S. MAZZELLA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the meof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS" Name Date 13241527 Stewart Dec. 9; 1919 15540590" Brauei" June 2, 1925" 21004364 Best June 11, 1935' 2,117,112 Buchanan .May'10,' 1938* 2164,02 1 Rog'ofi' June27, 1939 

